Tatters pressed the brakes and slid through the snow when she saw the first zombified civilian on the path ahead. As the trike came to a stop, the thing in front of her turned its head and looked at them with its empty eyes and dropped jaw. Most of its clothes were gone because its limbs had gotten all deformed and turned into sharp weapons, and the arms didn't look like they were still in their original positions.
The others gasped when they laid their eyes on the abomination, and Plural tightened her arms around Tatters' waist behind her.
Since they left the hot spring, the number of threads in the city had increased dramatically, meaning the scourge was taking the population fast. Seeing this one in person told Tatters enough to know one thing for sure.
"I can't save you anymore…"
And as if it understood her words, the zombie started sprinting towards the group with surprising speed and athleticism. It made an uncanny yet human scream that sounded like it was suffering.
Tatters grabbed her dagger and threw it up to the right of the creature, then tightened her retractor device while pulling it to the left, causing the wire to come back to her in an arc and cut the black thread. The zombie collapsed mid-sprint and fell with its face in the snow.
Tatters looked up at the sky to see new threads appearing by the second. They were getting denser near the city center, where the roads stopped and her trike couldn't enter.
"We walk from here," she told the others and dismounted first.
When she looked at them, she saw a bunch of scared civilians, and their attitudes sure didn't help her confidence in their already shaky plan. Normally, she wouldn't want to put up with any dead weight that'd slow her down, but…
"What is it?" Plural asked.
Tatters blinked and realized she'd been staring, and they'd already dismounted.
"Nothing," she said and looked away.
But she was already starting to feel attached to them.
"She likes us, Plu!" Saturn patted her shoulder with a grin.
"What—" Tatters flinched and jumped back, "I don't…"
He moved on ahead, and Plural gave her a cozy smile as she followed him and came past. Tatters watched them in amazement and wondered if they liked her back, then shook her head and reprimanded herself for having stupid thoughts.
"This is way worse than I thought," Circus said as she studied the dead monster.
The others didn't have as strong a stomach as her, and Plural tried her best to look the other way.
"Let's hurry," Circus said, looking at Tatters, who nodded back.
Having reached the narrow streets of the city center, Tatters jogged ahead of the group while swinging her wire like a whip with a counterweight at the end. The closer they got, the louder the chaos. Screams from people and monsters, gunshots and cries.
The next set of threads in their path were clustered together, and Tatters grappled onto an oncoming rooftop to get a better view. Five of them in total, all looking disgustingly deformed in their own unique way. One couldn't even use its legs anymore and crawled around.
Tatters jumped to the closest rooftop and repeated the same trick with the wire from before, tossing her wire into the air and making it return to her sideways, cutting through all five threads in succession.
"Where's the rest of 'em?" she asked through the headset Saturn had given her. "This is too easy."
Ever since they left the trike behind, the threads in the distance had only been moving away from them, and there were hardly any encounters despite the city's dense population. From up here, Tatters could see an enormous number of them clustering up in the distance.
"Does that mean it's safe to come?" radio-Plural asked.
And none of them were even remotely close, like they were staying away on purpose.
"Yeah," she said and jumped back down to the ground.
The five monsters lay collapsed in front of a bar. It didn't look like there was anybody inside, but something caught Tatters' eye anyway.
"This'll do," Circus said behind her. Referring to the shotgun on the ground that was probably used to blow the legs off the crawling monster. Tatters' eyes didn't go to the shotgun, but to the long spear that was on display behind the bar counter. She ran into the building and jumped on top of the front counter, then on the rear counter behind it to get close enough. It was a shiny gold-coated display model, long enough to be able to cut the threads at range, but it wasn't sharp. Luckily, that was no problem in her hands.
"'scuse me, coming through," Circus said, trying not to get stabbed as she joined Tatters behind the bar counter to look for something. Tatters inquisitively followed Circus with her eyes, looking at the way she moved, holding a single shotgun shell in her hand and presumably looking for more. She wondered why the girl was the only one who could use guns, and why she was covered in blood when they first met at the old bunker. It would've been a suitable time to ask, but as usual, she didn't. Instead, she hopped back to the front counter and returned to the others at the bar entrance with her new spear.
"She looks reliable," she said, looking at the weapon.
"Give her a name yet?" Saturn asked, admiring the spear.
Tatters looked up at him in confusion. His eyes went back to the spear, then back at her.
"I meant the girl," Tatters said.
Saturn looked at her without saying anything, eyebrows raised.
"Ci—" Plural couldn't finish before Saturn pressed his finger against her lips.
"What girl?" he asked Tatters.
She looked at him with a panicked look, then back at Circus, who was standing now behind her holding a box of shells and filling the pockets in her coat.
"It's okay," she said, "not everyone's good with names."
This gave Tatters a frustrated look, and she looked at the ceiling, trying to recall.
"She did introduce herself," Plural recalled, looking somewhat amused.
"S-Sur-" Tatters stuttered while holding her index finger to her chin, not looking confident.
Saturn grinned, and Plural looked at her like she was watching a cute dog.
"I thought you didn't care what things are called!" she yelled and walked out.
"It's Circus…" the person in question said, following Tatters in confusion.
The streets were eerily empty, but the city wasn't quiet, and they could still hear screams and gunshots in the distance. As a result, they were able to make their way back to the old town center without running into a single monster. To their relief, they did find an old man standing in front of a hotel, holding a shotgun. At first, he aimed at the group, prompting Tatters to shield them with her cape, but he was able to tell they weren't turned and lowered his weapon.
"You kids okay?" he asked.
Tatters lowered her cape and looked bitter.
"We're fine!" Plural responded and approached the man, prompting the others to join her.
"You got good protection. Heh," he said, pointing the stock of his rifle at Tatters, who now carried a golden spear on her back where her crossbow used to be.
Looking around the square, there were only a handful of dead monsters lying around. They all had shrapnel wounds on them. Apparently, a shotgun could sever the threads.
"What about you? Where is every… thing?" Circus asked him.
"They all went…" he pointed straight ahead, "that way. I'm not complaining though."
They followed the man's directions and saw the tall apartment building towering over the other shops. Their plan was already looking less feasible.
"You kids should get inside. Safer there," he said, pointing behind him.
Tatters inspected the man, then set her eyes on a wound on his arm.
"You're hurt. You won't last. Nobody's safe," she said as she walked away.
The others hesitated to follow. Plural looked at the man like she didn't want to leave him to die. Circus eventually put her hands on Saturn and Plural's shoulders and addressed the old man.
"We're saving the world tonight, including you," she told him with a smile.
He didn't look like he believed her.
"Wish us luck!" she said as she pushed her friends to follow Tatters, who'd stopped to watch over her shoulder.
"You're kinda good with words," Saturn said to Circus.
She returned a smile and a thumbs up.
♦
"I don't like this," Plural said, having reached their destination and looking around the deserted parking lot.
Everywhere they looked, there were black threads in the distance, but not here. They knew they were being surrounded.
"Doesn't matter," Tatters said dismissively.
She looked over at Saturn, who grabbed his phone and checked the tracker's position one last time, then looked up at the building.
"Still there."
Tatters examined everybody's faces.
"You know what to do?"
Saturn took the emerald out of his pocket and Circus took the safety off her shotgun.
"I'll keep one in reserve," Circus said as she looked at the gem, cocking the weapon.
Tatters nodded, gave the others one last look and then stepped back, looking up at her target. She reached for her utility belt and grabbed her grappling hook, then walked towards the building.
But she was stopped by Plural taking her hand, just like last time. Tatters turned around and looked at her hand, which Plural was holding gently.
"This is it, you know?" Plural said with a worried look on her face.
Tatters frowned.
"We might not see each other again," Plural continued.
Tatters looked at the others, who'd joined the two.
"Not likely, anyway," Saturn said as he looked at the threads that surrounded them.
"Who are we kidding? We're definitely not gonna see each other again," Plural said with a melancholic look.
Tatters looked at her three allies with a nostalgic look in her eyes, like she was about to cry. Instead, the blonde closed her eyes, took a deep breath and held Plural's hand tightly.
"I don't wanna go back, either," she eventually spoke up.
"Huh?" Plural asked timidly.
Tatters opened her eyes.
"I think we'll see each other again."
Then, she took Plural's one hand, too.
"I just think the universe doesn't want me to die tonight," she said, looking Plural in the eyes. "Believe me, I've tried…"
Plural stared at her with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. Tatters backed away towards the building, still holding Plural's hands, stretching her arms with each step until she had to let go. She was leaning forward a little by then, making it look like she was giving Plural a chivalrous bow.
Tatters turned around and took her grappling hook in her hands again. She shot it at the side of the building as high as she could, using her power on the hook to allow it to penetrate the wall, before disabling it and pulling it tight.
"O-Okay!" Plural yelled from behind, and Tatters looked over her shoulder to see the blue head of hair anxiously clutching her hands against her chest. "Don't die!"
Tatters gave her a smile, then turned away and pulled herself up.
The others watched her dig her blade into the wall when she reached the hook. She took the hook out, then repeated the process. Her power made it easy, and she climbed the building quickly. Circus looked back at the threads in the sky as the other two nervously awaited the moment Tatters reached the top.
"Think Dark Jenny's watching?" Circus asked nervously.
"Probably, why?" Saturn replied, still looking up.
"They're definitely getting closer now," Circus said.
Saturn and Plural turned around and saw that the threads were now coming their way. It was the same in each direction, like one massive hive-mind. They were officially on a timer now, and it wasn't even in their own hands anymore. All they could do was wait patiently for Tatters to succeed and deliver Jenny's body. But the more they thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed that she'd pull it off. And if she failed, they'd be eaten alive.
"This is how you know you're still alive!" Circus said as she jumped in place, high on adrenaline.
Plural looked up again to see Tatters maybe halfway up the building now. She closed her eyes and grabbed the sides of her head with both hands.
"I'm alive… I'm alive… I'm alive… I'm so lucky to experience this… I feel everything," she rambled to herself.
"How many shells did you find?" Saturn asked Circus.
"Ten!" Circus said enthusiastically, still jumping.
"… Ten?"
"Minus one for the emerald!"
Circus had a forced smile on her face, clearly not trying to think bad thoughts.
"Oh, oh!" Circus turned around, still jumping in place. "If Jenny falls on my head, just take the gun and pull the trigger like this," she said, holding up the gun and wiggling her index finger at the trigger.
The other two looked at her like they weren't sure what to say.
"Will do, babe…" Plural said.
Saturn took another glance at the emerald in his hand, and Plural joined him to share in his heart-pounding anxiety. On his other side, Circus hopped over, still jumping, to take a good look at the green gem.
"By the way… when you said this overcharges her…"
The other two looked up from the emerald and bopped their heads up and down to follow Circus.
"Does that mean Super Sparkle mode?" Circus asked Saturn.
Saturn tossed the emerald in the air and caught it again, with Circus' eyes following it all the way.
"Yeah. It does."
Plural looked like she didn't know what they were talking about, and like she was too anxious to ask.
"I hope we live to see it!" Circus turned around to face the incoming horde, still jumping energetically.
"Yeah…"
During the nerve-wracking silence, Saturn stared into the emerald and saw his own reflection.
"Did…" he stuttered with a resigned look on his face. "Did you guys know I'm in love with Jenny?"
"It's pretty obvious," Plural said.
"I thought you guys were a thing already…" Circus said.
Together, they took one last glance at the top of the building.
"Almost there…"
♦
Tatters got more nervous the closer she got to the rooftop, until she felt her heart beating in her throat. This might've been the most dangerous opponent she'd ever faced, but that wasn't what made her nervous. It was the stakes that were higher than ever before, and her promise to that girl. Don't die, and see each other again.
When she reached her anchor again, Tatters stopped and looked down at her allies on the ground one last time, but she was shocked to see the black threads had almost reached the parking lot. There was no time to be sentimental. She hurried to get to the top.
Last time she faced Dark Jenny, she walked into a trap under the ice. That wasn't going to happen again. When she reached the final floor underneath the rooftop, she broke the window and jumped inside, running across the interior to the other side while checking for traps. At the center of the ceiling, she placed an explosive of her own and set it to go off on a three-second timer. She retrieved her new spear from the quiver on her back and ran to the opposite window. If Jenny's body wasn't a concern, this would've been a lot easier.
She jumped through the window on the other side and turned around to grapple onto the railing on the rooftop. Then, the explosive device went off, and she used the distraction to climb onto the roof and jam one of her daggers into the ground.
Ahead was Dark Jenny, holding Jenny's body with one tendril on the left, and the zombie with the black thread with another one on the right. It was stumbling from the explosion and slammed the zombie to the floor to keep itself balanced, clearly far more protective of its prize in its left tendril instead.
The biggest mistake she'd made last time was taking her sweet time and allowing her opponent to make the first move. Not this time. Before her adversary had any chance to regain its posture, she infused her spear with the blue effect and jumped at her opponent, positioning the spear such that there wasn't much of an opening to attack her from the front, while her cape protected her from the rear.
Both tendrils were valid targets. If she could cut the thread on the zombie, her allies on the ground would be safe. If she could free Jenny's body and kick her off the rooftop, they'd still make it in time to bring her back, and Jenny could save everyone.
Tatters swung her spear so that it would hit both Dark Jenny and the zombie on the right tendril. As expected, neither target took the hit when Dark Jenny widened the gap between itself and the zombie it was holding, ducking the tendril down across the ground to avoid the spear.
As a result, Tatters went in between her two targets and landed on the other side, but she got what she wanted. That dagger she jammed into the ground when she climbed onto the rooftop on the other side was connected by wire to her belt, and that wire was now running over the tendril that held the zombie. Without hesitation, she activated her blue power on the wire, and made it melt straight through the tendril and the roof like a hot knife through butter. The severed tendril lost its strength and dropped the zombie to the ground, giving her a clear shot at the black thread.
Tatters turned her back to her opponent, eliminating any hope for it to save one of its two precious assets. She leapt at the thread and cut it with a single jab before the zombie could even get to its feet.
Instead of retaliating, Dark Jenny clapped cheerfully, surprising Tatters. Did it not mind at all? To confirm her suspicions, she looked back at the sky to see nothing had changed. The black threads of the scourge still approached the building. She didn't cut down the main host, but a decoy. The real one was hiding somewhere down there.
Tatters watched her opponent growing two new dark limbs from its back that took the shape of giant wings. Now it was Dark Jenny's turn. It transferred Jenny's body to its own arm and used the now-free tendril to launch itself into the air. When it came back down, it used the downward momentum and the completed wings to fly towards Tatters, prompting her to point her spear at it in defense. But she had to undo her power as quickly as she applied it when her opponent raised Jenny's body as a shield. Was it trying to run? Or throw her off the building? With no time to think, Tatters prepared to grab on to Jenny's body. If she was going to be knocked off, she'd fall with her prize.
But when it got close, Dark Jenny released Jenny's body and dropped it on the ground. Tatters frantically ducked and tried to reach for the prize as it slid her way, but she lost her balance when a tendril tightened around her ankle and pulled her away. Dark Jenny was taking her along for the ride, knocking her against the rooftop's railing and causing her to let go of her spear.
There she was, flying through the air upside down, being carried like prey by Dark Jenny, who was gliding away from the building. She could see more of the city from this height, and everywhere she looked, the streets were swarming with undead. From the way it looked from up here, the entire city had been consumed at this point.
She noticed the threads were all heading towards her three allies and storming the parking lot. They looked up at her, and Tatters looked back. Their time was up. She pressed her radio button to tell them to get to the rooftop themselves but remembered just how intelligent the creature inside of Dark Jenny was. Any chance of success hinged on the fact that it didn't know about the emerald.
"What happened!? Where's Jenny?" Plural asked over the radio.
Tatters clenched her teeth in anger as she resisted the urge to tell them anything that might give the plan away. She pointed at the rooftop instead, hoping they'd get the hint, then grabbed the headset and threw it away.